There's a known issue affecting some Nexus 5 users where the speaker volume is fairly low. This could be attributed to a manufacturing defect, which you could possibly fix with a hot needle, but if your built-in speakers and headphones seem muted, don't take your Nexus apart just yet.

If your music is playing too softly on the built-in speakers and you're having slightly muted audio on your headphones, your Nexus 5 system volume levels might just need tweaked.

What You'll Need for This softMod

Step 1: Set the Volume Levels

Once you have N5RVB open, you can set the volume levels to your liking. The higher the numbers you enter, the higher the volume will be.

The first value will change the output volume for media playing through your headphones. The second value will change the volume level for anything coming through your phone's speaker.

The most important thing to note here is the Maximum Value depicted in red below each entry. For Headphone Volume, do not exceed 20. For Speaker Volume, do not exceed 95.

Step 2: Create the Flashable ZIP

When you're satisfied with your volume level entries, you'll need to create a ZIP file that can be flashed in custom recovery to apply these changes. Do that by tapping the Save button.

A message will appear below the save button telling you that the file was created and where it was stored. Be sure to note this location, as you'll need to find the file later when it comes time to flash.

Step 3: Reboot into Recovery

Next up, tap the Reboot to Recovery button. A dialog will pop up asking to grant the app superuser privileges. Hit Grant, and your phone will automatically boot into recovery.

Step 4: Flash the ZIP That You Created

As always, before flashing anything in recovery, it's best to have a backup handy just in case.

From the home screen of TWRP Recovery, tap the Install button. Navigate to the file you created earlier, which should be located on your SD card and named N5Volume. Tap the file, then swipe the slider to initiate installation.

When finished, tap Reboot System and the changes will have taken effect. The process should be the same with other recoveries like CWM.

You can now enjoy louder sound on your Nexus 5.

How to Get Back Your Stock Volume Levels

If you wish to revert to the stock volume levels, open the N5RVB and enter the default values, which are in parenthesis next to both entries. Create a new ZIP and flash it just like you did with the first time around and you're back to normal.

Hi I'm really interested in this app! But I am having a funny problem. My Nexus 5 is rooted, I did receive the pop-up required for the reboot, just like it was shown in the video. But once the phone powers down, I get this funny logo of the android logo laying on his back, and a red triangle with an exclamation mark. The screen stays that way unless I push the power button. Once I do, nothing is changed. The phone is plugged into my computer, and the file is in My Files. Can you please tell me what I am doing wrong? Is there a Kit Kat update I could probably be missing?

Just curious if you are working on creating an app for the Nexus 6?? I just got this phone and love it but am having the same issues with not very high volume! I love my music to be LOUD!! Thanks for your time!

The app modifies the /system/etc/mixer_paths.xml which may not exist on the nexus 7 and if it does, it is probably completely different. I unfortunately don't own a nexus 7 so I can't create a version for that device.

Hi. I have a question. Do I need to root my phone? I really want to do this, but my Nexus 5 is unroot, so everytime I click on "Reboot Recovery", no popup appear.. and I have to root my phone if I want to use TWRP or CWM flasher right?

Hi yes to do any modifications to your phone you need root privelages to gain root to the nexus 5 you need to unlock the bootloader throu your computer then root the phone throu the computer root apps will not work unfortunatly i had to do the same to get android 7.1.2 onto my nexus 5

I was just reading up on this, and apparently Google pulled the app from the Play Store because it used "Nexus 5" in the name. The developer is in the process of getting that all squared away (apparently it's okay to call the app "Volume Booster for Nexus 5", but not okay to call it "Nexus 5 Volume Booster"), but in the meantime, he uploaded the APK here. So if you want to try it, download that file and make sure you have "Unknown Sources" enabled in settings under "Security", then launch the APK to install it.